October 14, 2011

Mayor Rahm Emanuel Chicago City Hall 121 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60602 Mayor Emanuel, On behalf of Northcenter Neighborhood Association (NNA), I am writing in response to the proposed closure of the 19th District Police Station. We are requesting a meeting in order to more fully understand the implications of the proposed closure on the police presence and resources in our District. In light of our citys budgetary strains, NNA recognizes the necessity of budget cuts, and understands that there are districts with law enforcement needs far greater than ours. We will wholeheartedly support initiatives that encourage improvement in the entire Chicago community, but not if an initiative reverses the progress and hard-earned safety of our own District. We credit the members of the 19th District Station with their successful efforts to control crime in our area, and we expect the same quantity and quality of attention to policing in our community in the event this merger takes place. We are concerned that closure of the 19th District will negatively affect the safety and security of our own neighborhood. Therefore, we cannot support it unless we are assured that the physical merger of the two stations will not result in decreased police presence in our community, longer response times to our needs and requests for assistance, and slower communication between the police and our members. To be more specific, our support of this merger is contingent upon the following assurances: We want the same number of officers assigned to the current 19th District territory after the merger as exists now. Although our rate of violent crime is relatively low, we have had 3 recent shootings in our area. In addition, we know that individual safety has been significantly impacted by short response times and police attention to cross walk violations, traffic problems around schools, and similarly life-threatening but non-911 safety issues. Consolidating building and overhead costs is acceptable, but we oppose any reduction in police presence in our neighborhood, any diffusion of our 19th District resources to other areas of the city, or any diminishment of resources to keep response times and communication to our members timely and effective. We want the same level of email communication from our Captain after the merger. John Wilner of the 19th District has been in frequent and substantive contact with our members regarding criminal activity (or rumored activity) and that communication has resulted in a partnership of community policing that has helped to keep crime relatively low in our community.

 We want a full-time community liaison assigned to the former 19th District, or a similarly-sized portion of the new District. Communication between our members and the Liaison will help law enforcement by heightening community awareness of criminal activity, helped to protect senior citizens from corrupt scams, and creating an overall environment unwelcoming to crime. In the recent past, our Liaison has already been overextended, so any additional consolidation of territories will be disastrous. We want a proportionate share of the additional officers on the street that will be afforded by this merger. If we are to lose the 19th District in an effort to put more officers on the street, then it naturally follows that we should be allocated a proportionate share of the additional officers hired as a result of this savings. We want the District to maintain the same response times to 911 calls as existed before the merger. This is easy to determine, and will help all involved parties monitor whether the same quality of police attention and services is being maintained in our District. We realize that safety is a team effort between the residents and the police district. Indeed, we have worked very hard to engage our members and create a community where neighbors look out for neighbors and work closely with law enforcement to create a safer neighborhood. We are very grateful for the the hard work and cooperation we have had from the 19th District. We seek to ensure that everyones hard work is not lost in a plan packaged as building consolidation, but which in essence, constitutes the withdrawal of police resources from our District. Our members look forward to your response, and so the best next step is to schedule a meeting with our members to answer their questions. We look forward to that meeting, and to more fully understanding the implications of this Plan. Sincerely, Julie Hobert President Northcenter Neighborhood Association cc: Members of Northcenter Neighborhood Association Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy 47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar 19th District Commander John Kenny Captain John Wilner, 19th District